For Youri and I’s wedding, I wanted to try and make it eco-friendly and “elegant but casual” for our friends and family. My parent’s house in Florida was a perfect location with a stunning lake in the background and we truly had the best weather for a December wedding. Although it wasn’t eco-perfect, it was an amazing wedding.

Our hotel provided a shuttle to and from my parent’s house and other guests were encouraged to carpool. We rented the tent, globe lights, white chairs (both for ceremony and reception), linens, tables, dance floor, and drinking glasses from a great rental company- MR Events. I repurposed some home decor to add a splash of Harry Potter and personal touches, like my time-turner necklace, a Hogwarts Guestbook and feather quill, my mom’s lace table runner, a hummingbird figurine to honor those no longer physically with us, and a few maple leaf elements to represent my Canadian husband. My husband’s family is from Quebec, so naturally we bottled maple syrup from his family’s sugar shack as our wedding favors. We chose do compostable plates and cutlery for our buffet and the leftovers went straight into containers and into my parent’s fridge at the end of the night- most were gone the next day for lunch, including the last pieces of our delicious cake. 

My mom had bought some battery-powered and solar-powered lights for the trees, plus a few tiki torches, due to how dark it is at night and the slope to the lake, but other than that purchases for decor were very limited and kept minimal. I wanted the night to be focused on having fun and dancing, which it definitely was!

Photos by Andrew of Lili Lu/Cassie Peach Photography